Betrayal
by madnarutofan
Summary: Naruto follows Sasuke to the Valley of the End and succedes in deafeating him only to be abandoned by Kakashi on the journey home when Kabuto attacks. Left to die, Naruto is forcibly brought to Orochimaru and is kept at his mercy. Will Naruto hold out in
1. Betrayal

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Betrayal

In a blinding flash of light the two attacks connected chidori and rasengan.

As the glowing white orb that is the rasengan ground against the lightning edge currently being held by Sasuke, Naruto realized that he had just barely saved himself from a world of hurt. The bastard had tried to aim for his chest while he went for his forehead protector. It was only by instinct and sheer luck that he'd realized what was about to happen and had managed to bring his own attack back in to counter the assassin strike.

He smirked as his currently crimson stained and slitted eyes peered into Sasuke's own two frustrated orbs. Only a second later, the one original technique created by the copy cat nin, Hatake Kakashi succumbed to the destructive force and power of the Yondaime Hokage's own signature attack.

Where the rasengan was involved, there simply was no substitute.

Sasuke never knew what hit him.

Dropping down onto the surface of the water on his feet, Naruto watched as Sasuke's form flew threw the air only to crash into the rocks behind. Naruto groaned as he realized he would be the one to pull Sasuke's body free of the rubble and carry him home. 'Damn.' was his thought as he sauntered up to the rocks and began digging out his friend and team mate.

He paused in his efforts a few minutes later as Kakashi and a ninken broke out of the bushes nearby.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei !" Naruto greeted loudly while waving his arms wildy about about.'Thank god someone else can help me get him home' he added cheerfully in thought to himself.

His waving stopped abruptly however when Kakashi got one look at him with a wide open eye and dropped into a fighting stance.

"Sensei… what are you doing? What's wrong?" he asked confused.

"Where is my student, demon…" Kakashi seethed out as he began moving forward into his attack stance.

"Wha..what are you talking about Sensei… it's me…Naruto." He rambled while moving back himself. 'Oh crap, he sees me using the damn fox's charka and the changes and now he probably thinks I'm possessed or something…'

"I'm just using the Kyuubi's chakra right now" Naruto rambled out in an attempt to save his ass. "…Ji..Jiriaya taught me how d..during the month we had to train during the exam…"

Kakashi stopped and looked into Naruto's eyes coldly.

"Naruto…if it is you…then stop it…NOW." Kakashi sternly ordered as his brow creased and his voice ended in a shout.

"O..Okay sensei." Naruto said as he close his eyes and slowly willed the demon's power back into the seal. Now back to normal, he tried conversation once again. "Is..is that better sensei?"

Kakashi looked down for a moment before he dropped down out of his stance and grumbled to himself, not knowing that Naruto's ears were still heightened from the latent chakra in them.

"Damn it Jiraiya, what the hell are you doing teaching him how to channel the Kyuubi's power! It's bad enough that you already taught him Rasengan, summoning, and waterwalking. Now all the damn effort it took to hold him back is being wasted…"

Naruto looked away from Kakashi in shock and forced any excess demon charka from his ears. He didn't want to hear anymore. He had always known there was some reason why Kakashi refused to ever teach him anything and why he had tossed him off on Ebisu when HE was the one who had needed the training the most. Now he knew why…

He was intentionally holding him back…

He didn't want to hear anymore, it just hurt too much and was too sudden.

He didn't have to think about it much though seeing as how Kakashi stopped bitching and walked up to him to examine the rocky debris.

"Naruto," he began in an even voice while surveying the destruction. "Is Sasuke underneath this?"

"Yes…" Naruto answered while his brain processed what was happening around him. 'I'm standing here covered in blood from when Sasuke tried to kill me and he doesn't even care…after I saved him from Zabuza and everything …and he doesn't care?'

"Let's get him out then." Kakashi ordered .

Naruto just stood there not listening to anything. It wasn't until Kakashi spat at him to get it together that he began to move.

Naruto didn't have the heart to say anything in response to the second member of his 'family' betraying him. He just walked to the rubble and began moving rocks.

Kakashi noticed the sudden drop in Naruto's attitude, but he didn't care. His prize student was trapped underneath heavy debris thanks to the dobe in his team. Getting the Uchiha out and back to Konoha was what was important, not catering to the emotional deficiencies of a brat.

A few minutes later they took off with Sasuke bound and unconscious on Kakashi's back and Naruto doing his best to keep up with the jounin while injured.

Neither noticed a pair of calculating eyes hidden behind spectacles watching them.

---

**Halfway Back to Konoha.**

Naruto ground to a halt as his lungs seized up desperate for air. Collapsing on the ground with his back to a tree, he just sat and tried to recover some while a fuzzy white began to bleed into his vision. He guessed that the combination of blood loss and exhaustion was finally beginning to get to him. Turning his head he saw that Kakashi had also stopped, though it was obvious that it was only to check on the wounds of the Uchiha. He found it funny that Kakashi kept checking Sasuke's arm and torso in an attempt to discern where all the blood was coming from. It was sad that he himself was so excluded from Kakashi's concern that even basic logic and reasoning were affected. How hard could it have been to see all the blood on him…oh… and the HOLE that Sasuke had put through him that was now open again due to the fact that Kakashi had run his ass ragged.

'Do I matter that little?' he asked himself.

Naruto turned his head away once again so that he wouldn't see Kakashi and Sasuke OR start thinking too hard about the fact that the number of people on the planet that actually gave a damn about him had decreased by two.

That single action was probably what saved his life seeing as how it allowed him to see the Kunai flying at his head.

Naruto used what little energy he had left to fling himself away from his seated position and used the inertia in the roll to jump back up on his feet. Taking a defensive stance he observed his surroundings.

Kakashi was now standing in some sort of altered fighting stance with Sasuke strewn over his shoulders and was himself taking hold of his immediate environment while maintaining a defense.

Looking up to the surrounding trees, then down and to the right, and finally to the left, Naruto saw nothing. After a brief memory covering Sasuke's participation and humiliation in their first genin test with Kakashi registered in his mind however, he jumped back and looked at where he had been standing before, expecting an attack.

He had forgotten to check behind him however…

"Close Naruto-kun , but you forgot the most obvious one, Behind." Snickered the nin with spectacles from before

Naruto instantly recognized the sly, insulting voice.

"Kabuto…" Naruto growled out while trying not to move against the kunai blade that was now at his throat.

"Oh, come now Naruto-kun. I thought that you would've worked past that foolish aggression by now. Afterall, you DID strike me with that infernal rasengan of yours. You ought to feel a little relieved. If anything, I'm the one who should feel hatred." Kabuto finished after digging the blade in a little while mentioning the rasengan.

"Screw you." was Naruto's blunt reply.

"My my my, I see you still haven't developed any manners, but I must say I was rather impressed with the way in which you defeated Sasuke-kun. It's not often that anyone can move faster than the Sharingan can track and yet you managed to do just that. Not to mention my surprise when I found out about where your little technique there came from. The Yondaime Hokage's own signature move, and to master it in a week no less? Inpressive indeed… Hmm, I wonder sometimes if the little Uchiha is really the superior choice…but I must digress at the moment."

Kabuto eased up on the blade just slightly and moved his face away from Naruto's ear to look directly at the other nin in front of him. "Kakashi-san, surely YOU aren't going to attack me with that jutsu you're preparing."

Naruto also brought his eyes back to focus on the nin in front of him. Shocked, he saw a Kakashi that now had his sharingan revealed and was now holding one wrist pointed downward while charging chakra.

More specifically, the chidori.

"Ka..Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto questioned with audible fear.

"Who are you kidding Kakashi-san?" Kabuto questioned mockingly while moving Naruto into a better human shield position. "You already know I'm at least as good as you and you're going to try and hit me with that while supporting Sasuke-kun? Don't make me laugh Kakashi." Kabuto's warm smugness suddenly turned into an ice-cold manner. "You will never hit me. The most you will do is waste chakra and kill Naruto. I can always throw him at you or just dodge the attack entirely. Face it Kakashi, you're not going to escape with both of them here. You can not protect Sasuke and fight me and if you do try and fight me after dumping him I can just slice Naruto here so that you can think about him slowly bleeding to death while we battle."

Naruto's eyes were wide as the facts of the situation were laid bare, but he felt slight relief as he saw Kakashi slowly power down his attack and slide back into a defensive position.

"That's much better Kakashi-san, now if you will be so kind as to unbind and wake up Sasuke-kun with a simple jutsu, we'll be on our way." smugly ordered Kabuto.

Time passed and Kakashi stood there as if debating something within himself and Naruto began to get a sick feeling in his stomach.

"What are you waiting for?" bellowed a now visibly angered and impatient Kabuto.

Naruto's feelings increased in their volatility when he saw Kakashi slowly raise his head and make eye contact with him.

Kakashi spoke his name softly but sternly.

"Naruto."

"Yes…sensei?" Naruto asked while all the while hoping that his fear was not about to come true.

"Naruto… I am sorry for this Naruto but this is what must be done for the good of the village…"

"Wha what are you talking about sensei?" Naruto stuttered out with a broken voice and tears beginning to collect in his eyes. 'please…please don't' he begged in his mind.

"Naruto, it is as simple as this. The life of a ninja is the life of a tool. Uchiha Sasuke is a valued tool and represents the future of the village, you are not. You are a painful relic of the past that represents the weakness of the Leaf. You are and always have been a liability Naruto. "

Naruto's expressive blue eyes widened in terror and shock.

Kabuto's own eyebrow rose at the interesting turn of events.

"Kakashi-sensei …please…please!" Naruto pleaded with Kakashi as Kabuto stiffened his grip on him to hold him still.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but Sasuke is both needed and wanted more than you…Good bye."

With that, Kakashi formed a quick seal as he and Sasuke poofed into smoke and left nothing but lingering mist in the air.

Naruto stood shock still.

There it was. The absolute truth in all its horrific glory. He was abandoned to his fate at the hands of a known traitor while weakened and left for dead and all because he wasn't worth it. Sasuke was just worth more than him. Sasuke was the rookie of the year. Sasuke had a bloodline limit. Sasuke was the most trained so far. Sasuke …was loved and wanted.

In all cases, he was not.

Naruto stood shock still as tears began to fall from his eyes to the ground and his heart shattered into pieces. He didn't even sense the blow connecting with the back of his head…

"Well shit…" Kabuto eloquently commented as he looked down at the prone form in front of him before leaning down to pick Naruto up and hoist him over his shoulder. "Well." He mused to himself. "I guess something is better than nothing. He does have the Kyuubi after all and Atkatsuki wants it. He'll be good for leverage at least…"

He stopped after a few steps and a thought.

"Orochimaru-sama is still probably going to kick my ass though….."

Kabuto continued on his way and then stopped again.

"Damn it… that's REALLY going to hurt. To hell with you Kakashi!" he yelled while sparing an angry glare towards Konoha.

---

**Entrance to Konoha**

Walking in through the main gates, Kakashi was surprised to see Tsunade, Shizune Jiraiya, and nearly all the mobile genin gathered there, including the sand genin. Regaining his composure, he readjusted Sasuke to his arms and moved towards them.

"SASUKE-KUN!" squealed Ino and Sakura as soon as they saw the boy in Kakashi's arms. A second later they were flying towards him and their true target.

Kakashi just flipped over them without a second thought and proceeded towards the Hokage, Tsunade. "Hokage-sama," he greeted her and received a nod. "Would you please look after Sasuke. I believe he is wounded badly somehow as you can see from the amount of blood on his arms and torso."

Tsunade backed away slightly as Shizune stepped in to cover her mentor and her fear of blood which still wasn't completely gone.

"I'll get him Kakashi-san. Just set him down right here"

Kakashi did so and Shizune kneeled down and began a scanning justu as she undid the binds on him to better examine him. Sakura and Ino were also now on either side of him holding one of his arms.

The area was nearly silent as Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Hinata began to get a bad feeling. They were beginning to wonder where Naruto was and why Kakashi hadn't mentioned him. They stood in silence though, hoping that Shizune would finish with the immediate business soon so that they could get answers.

Surprisingly, It was actually Garra that took the initiative and broke the awkward silence.

"Where is Uzumaki Naruto?" asked Garra gruffly as he walked up to Kakashi.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, Hinata, Shikamaru, Tenten, Shino, and even Kankuro and Temari turned to listen to Kakashi. All present were beginning to worry about where the individual that had changed so much for better was. They waited expectantly for answer.

They didn't expect just what that answer would entail.

"He's dead."

Gasps erupted from the group and looks of horror and grief quickly appeared on their faces.

Jiriaya had to move behind Tsunade to keep her from falling to the ground while Hinata stood there clearly in shock trying desperately to convince herself that she had not just heard what she had heard. Shizune had stopped dead in her tracks looking down with wide eyes. Garra though stared directly at Kakashi as if boring into his soul.

"What happened…Kakashi?" Gaara demanded while attempting to calm the demon within.

Kakashi looked down at Gaara with a faint smirk.

"I don't have to tell you anything sand genin. I answer to her not you." He said while pointing at Tsunade as she sat crying on ground on her knees hugging Jiraiya.

Gaara's calm demeanor began to give way along with the appearance of a facial tic and the aggravated movement of his surrounding sands.

Shukaku was not pleased.

Kakashi's attention, however, was diverted from Garra and his sand to another genin.

"Was it the traitor?" seethed Shikamaru as he slowly started taking steps towards the downed Sasuke while pulling out multiple kunai.

Kakashi noticed the move of aggression and quickly repositioned himself in between Shikamaru and Sasuke.

"Stand down Shikamaru." Kakashi ordered. "Sasuke was not the one to kill Naruto."

"Bullshit Kakashi!" Shikamaru retorted. "What the hell do you take us for? Idiots? It's obvious that that's Naruto's blood all over the damn traitor over there! You're not fooling anyone!"

Another series of gasps left the lips of the genin before quickly being replaced by something else.

Snarls came from the assembled genin as they went from shocked to angry. Kakashi, Sakura, and Ino quickly found themselves being surrounded by Shikamaru, Shino, Tenten, and the sand genin while Shizune just backed away from them and Sasuke with her own face filled with anger and disgust.

"What are you talking about you idiot!" Ino and Sakura suddenly shrieked in near tandem. Sakura looked at Ino and continued. "Sasuke-kun would never try and kill Naruto. He's not like that! That baka just went and got himself killed by being a…"

Sakura's speech was cut off by a flying kick that connected to her head and sent her crashing into a nearby building.

Everyone looked behind Kakashi to see an enraged Hinata with an extended foot.

A snarling, shaking Hinata put her foot down and proceeded to walk towards the fallen form in front of her before quickly picking up the girl by her collar.

"YOU…" she screamed as she shook Sakura by her collar and tears fell from her eyes. "YOU BITCH!"

'SLAP' Sakura's face turned to the right.

"YOU DARE…"

'SLAP' Sakura's face moved to the left.

" TO CALL NARUTO THAT…"

'SLAP'

"AFTER ALL HE'S DONE FOR YOU!"

Hinata slapped Sakura once more before holding her up as she roared and prepared to send a severe jyuken strike into her heart.

Her strike was halted before she even had a chance to thrust forward.

Hinata cried in anguish and turned to striker the interloper that now held her wrist with a tight grip but found that she was now being brought into a forced hug and her arms were held behind her.

Shino forcibly held her as Hinata cried.

Sakura, to stunned to move, just slid to the ground.

The other forces brought their attention back to the traitor however and began moving forward again against Kakashi.

Just as they were about to launch an attack though, a commanding voice called them to a halt.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" raggedly ordered the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade as she sat up and moved away from a grim Jiraiya.

Tsunade's eyes became cold as ice as she made eye contact with all of the others present.

"No one…and I mean no one… is to touch the Uchiha until I say so." Everyone, even Gaara, was disturbed to some degree by the icy manner Tsunade now spoke in. "Hatake-san, rebind the Uchiha. We have no need for him to run free and defect again. We've already lost too much. Yamanaka, YOU, get the hell away from him. Uchiha Sasuke is now a missing nin and as such will be treated as so…"

"Hokage-sama, surely" Kakashi tried to plead.

"SILENCE!" roared the slug sannin as she brought her heel to the ground and created a crack in the earth.

All were quiet.

"You, Hatake-san, will speak only when I command you to do so. Is that understood?"

Kakashi began to give a verbal respons before Tsunade cracked her heel once again.

He just nodded.

"Good…now, Hatake-san, you will tell me what exactly happened to my little…" Tsunade trailed off with a tear rolling down her chin as she realized what she was about to say. "what exactly happened to Naruto on this god forsaken mission."

"Ummm, hokage-sama. If I may, perhaps we should move this into a more 'secure' location."

"No" Tsunade growled out as Jiriaya moved to stand beside her. "You will tell all of us here and now."

Kakashi stood there weighing his options and decided that the path to self preservation lay in a lie.

He sighed and began…

Thinking on his feet, He quickly spun a tale about finding an unconscious Naruto near an exhausted Sasuke and about how he managed to carry both of them on his back for awhile. That, he suggested to them, was how Sasuke was covered in Naruto's blood.

Inwardly, Kakashi congratulated himself on that one as everyone looked on in rapt and grim attention soaking up every single one of his details.

In any case, progressing to Naruto's death, he relayed the story of being ambushed by Kabuto and having to drop the two boys to fight the nin. He told them that they fought close range for a while before he ran Kabuto off, but not before he had managed to sneak past Kakashi and deliver a lethal move on Naruto.

Yep, Kakashi thought to himself as he saw the grim response, I've still got it.

'Well time to finish' he thought.

"…and then I just picked up Sasuke and headed here. It was the best choice at the moment, considering the circumstances."

"That's exactly what happened?" Jiriaya asked grimly as he stared Kakashi down.

"Exactly." responded Kakashi cooly.

"Alright then, I guess that's all from you for right now Hatake-san." spoke Tsunade wearily.

Kakashi let out a breathe of relief at the lack of anyone questioning his story.

"Thank you Hoka.." he began only to be interrupted by her once more.

"Bind him, Gaara, Shikamaru. Don't let him escape."

In an instant, Kakshi found himself under both the Kagemane and the hold of Gaara's sand and only one thought came to mind.

'oh shit.'

"How did you know?" inquisitively asked Kakashi seeing as how he was now resigned to whatever was in store for him. Worst case scenario, he could always use a self cast genjutsu or chakra shielding to alter or conceal his true memory.

"It was obvious to us." replied Jiraiya as he moved in front of him. " First off, it was obvious that you're lying to keep Sasuke safe. If Naruto had really just bled on him that badly on your back, you would not look as well as you do. The second biggest tip was the battle with Kabuto. He's at least as good as you are. Once again, where are the battle marks? Where are your missing kunai? Your story just isn't believable! In short, you really do suck as a liar Kakashi."

Kakashi shrugged slightly. "oh well…"

"Jiraiya, are you ready with the seal?" interjected Tsunade as she moved behind Kakashi and raised her hands to each temple on the side of his head.

"Yeah, I guess." was Jiraiya's gruff reply. He knew he was probably going to need to get REALLY shit faced after viewing what he was about to see.

"What are you doing?" asked a tired Hinata from the confines of Shino's embrace and the gathered friends of Naruto.

"We're going to use a memory extraction technique on him. It works using both of us." Tsunade saw a confused look and decided to save them the trouble of trying to figure it out. "We developed it when we were younger and worked on missions together. I send specific shocks and signals to Hatake-san's brain here and it forces his short term memories to rise up in clarity. Jiraiya's technique there extracts that memory via a viewing jutsu. Unlike regular memory extraction techniques, this technique can not be hampered in any way."

Kakshi's eye widened in fear.

"We WILL get the truth…. Now, Jiraiya…BEGIN."

Jiraiya heard Kakashi scream in agony and activated the jutsu…

The events flew past in the blink of an eye, but the implications and truth of the incident were far more worse than he had thought they would be.

He was able to hear Kakashi's thoughts and while looking out he saw that Naruto had heard his painful remarks.

He saw the bloody form of Naruto and looking at his clothes instantly knew what had happened in the battle.

He saw Naruto trying desperately to keep up with Kakashi while injured and the look of agony in his face when he realized he meant nothing.

He…He saw the terror, the hurt, the suffering, the …betrayal… in Naruto's face and eyes as Kakshi abandoned him to his death without any effort to save him whatsoever.

Coming out of the jutsu, Jiraiya just fell back flat on his ass and did something he hadn't done since his wife or adopted son had died.

He cried.

The genin were very wary of what Jiraiya must have just seen, but Tsunade was frantic. She knew for a fact Jiraiya had only publicly cried on two occasions ever and if he was now…

"Jiraiya!" she yelled as she fell down in front of the sannin before her and grabbed his shoulders. "What happened?

Jiraiya didn't answer her, but merely pushed her away as he leapt up and forcefully punched the still bound jounin in the jaw as hard as he could.

He felt Kakashi's jaw break under the blow but it wasn't enough. He knelt over his form on the ground and began mercilessly punching him in the face as strangled sobs and curses erupted from his mouth.

He could feel the nin's life underneath him coming to an end when his own assault was stopped. For him though, it wasn't a wrist that grabbed him, but strong slender arms that wrapped around his sides and a soothing voice he rarely ever heard.

"It's…it's okay, Jiraiya." Tsunade murmured as her own voice cracked as she tried to calm down the toad sannin and stop his lethal pounding of the copy cat nin.

"No Tsunade…it's not…it's so… so much worse…" he cried as he grabbed her arms. "He left him Tsunade….he left him!"

"I know Jiraiya he already told us." She barely cracked out assuming that to actually see it was much worse.

"NO!" he surprisingly roared. "He left him there ALIVE with Kabuto. He didn't even TRY to save him! He…he just ran…."

"wh what? I don't understand" stuttered Tsunade as a cold chill ran over her as well as all the others present.

Jiraiya's eyes lit with rage, sorrow, and frustration once more as he stood and turned to face Tsunade as tears fell from his own eyes.

He grabbed her by the tops of her own shoulders and brought her close fast. Making a quick hand seal he placed one finger to his temple and one to Tsunade's.

A flash of light in Tsunade's vision contained the shared memories that Jiraiya had just given her.

A minute began outside as all looked on at the Godaime Hokage standing there in front of Jiriaya awaiting the answers to the real question as to whether or nor Naruto was dead.

The minute passed and a woman's eyes suddenly filled with more tears than she had cried in years when a sorrow filled scream erupted from the lungs of the first woman hokage.

"NOOOOO!"

Jiraiya held the woman as she had held him after viewing the heart wrenching scenes.

He knew how much seeing the boy's spirit crushed had hurt him. He also knew what was going to hurt her more once it hit home.

Naruto , if he wasn't already dead, was now in the twisted clutches of Orochimaru and Kabuto.

There would be no rescuing him.


	2. Abandoned

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing related to Naruto other than my own techniques, characters, and other original content.

'Betrayal'

CH.2

Pain.

Unimaginable, unadulterated, and invariably purified and personified pain.

That was the single most prevalent sensation that Naruto felt while being kept here, wherever 'here' was. If he wasn't strapped to a table and being experimented on and taken apart for study he was kept in his cage and suffered beatings and other torture.

One was a blindingly bright white room whose cold and sterile nature only served as the visual prelude to the intense discomforts brought on by Orochimaru's mad machinations and quest for knowledge. The other was a dark, black pool of hopelessness which sucked all thoughts for the future away and insured a sense of despair.

For the longest time he had held hope that someone, anyone would come and rescue him from the never-ending hell. His Baa-chan Tsunade, the Ero-sennin Jiraiya, Sakura-chan, any of the Rookie-nine, hell, he'd even thought that just maybe Kakashi-sensei would have a change of heart and release him.

Now though?

'_heh… now I know better.._' he thought to himself in the darkness.

Hope had turned to despair. Despair had led to a sense of betrayal. Feeling betrayal had led to a deep sense of hatred…

… after hatred?

Then… then came the rage. A deep all-encompassing rage that threatened to consume his soul and leave a being that thrived on wild destruction and a need to quench its thirst for the blood of its enemies…

Deep down he could sense that even the demon fox sealed within him was now uneasy about the state of his container. More often than naught now, he felt the youma stirring within, always releasing small, nearly unnoticeable burst of chakra. Perhaps he was testing the seal? Maybe trying to get away before some last horrific experiment or being sold off as some bargaining chip.

It wouldn't have surprised him really if the seal had cracked or was even breaking down entirely. With as much chakra and forced regeneration as the Kyuubi was forcing through him to keep him alive after the snake-sannin's sessions something was going to have to give.

Between the two of them, he was willing to bet that the fox would win. His faith in humanity was somewhat at a low-point at the moment.

Naruto's thoughts were brought to a halt when the door to his jail suddenly opened.

'_I guess it's off to snake-freak's lab again… God, I wish I knew what they were at least doing to me… I feel so different…so very strange…'_

**Orochimaru's Lab 5- Beneath the Otokage's Tower, Central Hidden Sound Village**

'_Something…something is not right here…'_

These were the thoughts of Orochimaru, Snake-Sannin, and lead of Oto.

'_My experiments have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams yes, but something does not add up. The Kyuubi-vessel has proven to be the ultimate test-subject, as expected. In its determination to survive, the Kyuubi has made Naruto-kun all but immortal… no manner of experimentation, analysis, or technique of torture has made strides in ending his life. I have use this to learn much. Theories and techniques that could've never been tested before were made possible. Graft assimilation, bloodline integration, new seals… even proto-type blood lines and abilites for my Oto-nin…yes, so very useful…but to what end?'_

Orochimaru snarled as he held lab reports up to be read, his eerie, golden eyes scouring the words and figures for any clue, any sign of the missing factors.

'_HE HAS BEEN USEFUL IN SO FAR AS TESTING TECHNIQUE APPLICATION THAT'S WHAT!... practice… as it were, but for anything else? No…no that damned demon burns it straight out of his system…Why? Does it not see the benefit… no… the perfection offered to its vessel? So much potential lost… Even Kabuto's old blood could not allow him to survive as Naruto-kun does… That damn brat…but once again why? _

The Snake-sannin sat back and poured himself some sake as he continued to observe his notes.

'_It's not from the fourth's seal … I proved that in the forest of death…It could only be the Kyuubi, but then once more, to what end? I could foresee the purging of any control seal, but the others? Why does that demon vex me so? Even his blood and chakra refuse to bend in the slightest way… These reports they all make no sense! How can someone not have a blood-type? How can his cells be in a constant state of flux? …and that other anomaly WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? I've never seen anything like it at all… If I didn't know any better I'd say it was stage three of the birth of a bloodline of some unimaginable power, but as prolonged as it has been it's not… '_

Pulling his files neatly back together and returning them to their sealed container, Orochimaru came to a decision.

"Kabuto" Orochimaru called out to his guards.

The door to the Otokage's office opened to reveal the traitorous leaf-nin. "Yes, Master Orochimaru?"

"Gather the seal masters within the village and bring them to me in lab zero."

Kabuto's shock at the mention of lab zero, Orochimaru's most private and secret workstation, was revealed only by the widening of his eyes. "Yes, Master."

As Kabuto turned to leave Orochimaru called him once more. "Kabuto, you will join us as well. As a former leaf-nin I assure you the next week or so will be a most momentous occasion. Soon Oto will reign as the most power nation in this world…"

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama." And with that, Kabuto left wondering what it could possibly mean.

Turning back around , Orochimaru returned to his own thoughts.

'_Soon, Kyuubi… soon I will have your power if not the body of your vessel itself. You will lend your strength to me and through your vessel I will discover the knowledge of true immortality and not this passing shade's existence I suffer now. I will discover what lies underneath this great mystery and the spoils will be mine…Indeed you may be mighty Kyuubi, but here… here and now you WILL belong to me'_

For a time. the only sound heard in the cold catacombs underneath the tower was a dark, malevolent laughter.

**Konoha- 3 Months After Incident**

The Godaime Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade stood in front of her large bay windows looking out over Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves. If one looked closely they would observe a single tear slowly making its way down the face of the powerful woman as she gazed scornfully out across the rooftops and cursed bitterly.

"Konoha… Damn you… damn you all to hell..."

After the true nature of the situation involving the return of the Uchiha had been revealed a chain reaction began. Immediately, Uchiha Sasuke was put under heavy sedation and guard in the military wing of the hospital, Hatake Kakashi was relieved of duty and put under house arrest, and search team formed to try and rescue or recover one Uzumaki Naruto.

Almost just as fast, those motions had been challenged by the council, the clan heads, and the populace in general.

The council, being backed by the villagers and clans, having decided that the Uchiha had merely been confused or under the affects of the Curse Seal had made sure that the traitorous nin was transferred to the unsecure wing and his Anbu guard removed. Once healed, he was restricted only to the Uchiha district and was promised additional one on one training from ANBU personnel at a later date seeing as how he had only been 'susceptible' to temptation because he'd been 'ignored' and hadn't received the attention he'd deserved..

As for Hatake Kashi, jounin sensei of team 7? He was commended by the council for making a difficult but correct choice and was offered his position as anbu captain once again, which Kakashi accepted wholeheartedly when he learned he would be continuing the education of the Uchiha.

What had happened to the search team?

Cancelled.

The council had forbidden such a "costly" expedition where not even five genin could be spared in a time of need. As for the clan head? They would not allow their heirs to be endangered on a fruitless venture. They reasoned that if Naruto had not been killed on site then he'd been released since his only worth in the situation had been as a token of trade for the Uchiha. When confronted with the prospects of an unleashed Kyuubi they merely laughed and stated that the fourth's sealing would never falter…

Bastards

… and so it was that her little brother and son in one, Uzumaki Naruto, was abandoned by his village and left to a grisly and torturous end.

The risk, they said, had been known when he accepted his hiatae. They laughed and said he had known as such, after all, he HAD always wanted to become hokage.

Needless to say, Hyuga Hiashi would not be waking up for a while.

Now all her hopes rested in the mad scrambling of Jiraiya as he tried to find his wayward student.

But, with the passing of the months, her hope began to dim and her thoughts led her to wishes of him having a quick death rather than any torture. The ominous fact that there was no corpse where he had been abandoned boded ill for that wish.

CRASH

Tsunade leaped to the side and around into a combat stance as her doors were kicked open. She prepared to attack whoever had entered in such a way when she finally recognized who was on their knees panting before her.

" JIRAIYA" she yelled before rushing to his side to find him not injured but more exhausted than she'd seen him in years.

"Tsu Tsunade" he wheezed as his lungs stuggled to meet his body's demands. " Ga gather the council and all the jou jounins now!"

"Wha why?" she asked in confusion

Any pleasantness in his face from relaxing after an arduous journey disappeared as the fear and panic that served as fuel for his hellish trek reappeared.

"DO IT !" he screamed as he sent his fist into the floor . "DO IT NOW WOMAN. WE DON'T HAVE ANY TIME TO SPARE."

"JIRAIYA !" Tsunade she screeched as she slapped his face to bring him to his senses.

"What the HELL is wrong with you? You're acting as if you'd seen a…" Her face paled as dangerous, unthinkable possibilites came to her mind. "No… oh god no… please no… Jiraiya.. please no… don't tell me.."

"Yes" he replied as he gazed straight into her eyes. "Kyuubi has returned."


	3. The Terror Unleashed

DISCLAIMER: I Don't Own Naruto

'Betrayal'

CH.3

Tsunade remained lost in thought for a moment. In thought for Konoha, in thought for Naruto, in thought for the world itself.

"how" she began softly as she stared away into space. "how do you know?"

"Sound…" his voice cracked. "Sound is gone…"

Tsunade's mind whirled at the possibilities involved in such a task. Was it truly the Kyuubi ? Was it instead perhaps an experiment gone wrong? She needed to know.

"Jiraiya…" she could tell his mind was still having problems coping with whatever he had seen. "What _exactly_ did you see out there…" she paused to allow him time to speak, praying he had jumped to a false conclusion.

His eyes unfocused as his mind returned to the remnants of Oto. An enormous crater spanning damn near the entirety of Hidden Sound Village. Corpses and debris spread around for miles, singed, and mostly burnt, others torn to pieces. The stench….the stench of death and burning flesh that would not leave his nostrils and could not be washed out….

The messaged tilled into the earth in the center of the crater in trenches so deep Gamabunta's knife would be hard pressed to match just one:

" **I HAVE RETURNED "**

…and the Nine great rifts filled with blood that spread out from the message itself, announcing without any doubt to whom the message referred.

So it was easy for Jiraiya to sum up what he had seen.

"…Hell…" he whispered out in a short breath. " I saw Hell…"

Tsunade could only wonder about what he spoke of and what had actually happened.

**_HIDDEN SOUND VILLAGE: 3 MONTHS PRIOR- Zero Hour_**

Orochimaru was pleased at the progress he and his seal masters were having with the Yondaime's containment Seal. It was difficult work to decipher, decode, and deconstruct it and even he himself, a self-proclaimed master of seals and an acknowledged leader in the field, had to admit that most portions of it were sheer genius .

'_Of course' _Orochimaru scoffed. _'It would take nothing less than a seal such as this to contain the Demon Lord Kyuubi."_

It also galled him to have to admit to it, but there were several smaller, personalized seals and designs within the larger ones that he was completely clueless about, their true purpose eluding him and his subjects entirely. This was especially troublesome since even a minor mistake involving the complicated seals could result in a cataclysmic outcome or the death of the container and consequently the demon he contained.

Naturally, there _was_ a certain allure to being able to snuff out the existence of an ageless demon, but why destroy such perfection when you can meld it to suit your own purposes? He had to admit that the prospect of true and complete immortality being right before him was enticing to the point of near insanity.

It was why he was even willing to chance that the unknown seals were negligible and go ahead with his plans.

So here he stood, along with Kabuto and his other underlings, around a great series of seals spanning the whole of his Lab Zero. The boy, Naruto, lay bare and open to them all in a spread eagle manner in the center of the complicated set up. Orochimaru himself stood in the receptor seal, eagerly awaiting his moment of triumph.

Initially, he had been enraged when Kabuto had returned not with Sasuke, but the demon-brat. In his anger, he had lashed out against the boy and was more than surprised to see the wound heal so quickly before his eyes. Soon, experimentation was put under way and it was discovered that while initially it didn't seem to be as effective as Kabuto's bloodline or Tsunade's genesis seal, it more than surpassed them when it came to critical and mortal wounds.

The perfect test subject it seemed.

And so he was… for a time. All of his most sadistic experiments, many long forgotten for want of an acceptable test subject, were unearthed. But, as he had so often lamented since then, the Kyuubi and apparently the Yondaime's Seal resisted and undid so many, if not all.

Then, _it_ had come to him, when he had been reviewing some of his borrowed research from the Atkatsuki. The Kyuubi as well as the other Biju were chakra based entities with immortal life spans. This was known and acknowledged throughout the five major powers and especially came into play when they were sealed into humans and inanimate objects alike. The beasts were sentient minds whose bodies were literally masses of energy that powered themselves by creating more energy. Summons, the attack beasts of nins, worked on principles much the same except nins provided the limited energy for the mass. When it did come time to seal the biju, however, they had to be sealed as one but a field had to be placed between their minds and energies.

He had actually based his own immortality technique off of his biju extraction and sealing research while being a member of the red dawn. His curse seal created a pathway for his chakra and soul to travel down when they left his body since he lacked the potent presence of chakra to create his own perpetually powered energy construct. Once in his container, his seal further worked to separate the mind of his host from his own energies so that he himself would be master of the body and could take the energies to add to his own. Theoretically, he could've been able to jump from host to host increasing his power exponentially, but alas there _were_ problems.

The most formidable problem was perhaps the fact that for whatever energy he gained via the host and its power, he mostly lost in the effects of hi transfer jutsu. Immediately when his essence, his soul and chakra, leave his host's body it begins decaying in an effort to pass on to the otherworld so a decent portion is lost here. Then, when his soul and chakra do merge into the curse seal, even more is eaten away as fragments are lost during the funneling of the energy into the host. Most of the power of his last host is lost here since it is not in tune with his own chakra and is entirely foreign to the next vessel. The last problem is the matter of the decaying of the host body itself.

Despite his many attempts to synchronize his essence with other host bodies and a myriad of experimentations, decay was an inevitability. Vessel bodies simply could not withstand the prolonged presence and control of a foreign mind and chakra. The only reason the human sacrifices who held the biju did not die within a matter of years was because the foreign entities were sealed as the slave, not the master, and did not have free reign of the host. Granted, there were cases where the mind of the biju was granted more freedom to influence its container, but its chakra was also opened up more to the host as well.

There was a balance.

These facts seemed useless until he had a stray thought while comparing his own situation with that of the Biju. He had a weak essence and relied on his vessels to support him. The Biju had strong essences and were contained and divided by their vessels. Conceivably, if he did eventually refine his seals to the point where he began to gain power with each swap would he not at one point reach the strength of essence that the Biju had? Would he then not also be able to support himself in a perpetual energy construct?

Them _IT _had occurred to him.

If the container of a particular demon just so happened to be sealed in such a manner that the Biju's mind and chakra were nearly divided save for the situations which the seal and the host would allow, could he not simply claim the power himself in a manner and become immortal in the truest sense? It would be as simple as opening the door, running in, taking what he wished, and leaving .

And so here he stood, awaiting the fruits of a labor over sixty years in the making. He wasn't a man to get emotional, but even he couldn't deny the fact that he was literally shaking somewhat in anticipation. With an unsteady hand raised in signal and a nod to the men surrounding him the process began…

…and almost immediately went wrong.

The first sign that something was wrong was the blood red chakra that erupted out of the Kyuubi-vessel. Granted, he had not known _exactly_ what the chakra would appear to be as it transferred to him, but there was an assured chance it would not be the blood red that was blazing towards him through the air and the seal contruct since it would not have been tainted by the mental presence of the Kyuubi. In fact, it _should _have appeared to be the same shade of black that was commonly emitted out form his curse seals since this greater design was based on several of its properties for the transfer of power.

Then again, it couldn't be black since the second the ritual was started and the partial unsealing activated, he himself had not had a chance to enter the vessel's soul-scape and achieve any of his objectives. This left him with but one, horrific and awe-inspiring conclusion. The gushing torrent of spiritual force heading towards him was none other than the earthbound manifestation of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Orochimaru had but a moment to reconsider whether he should have ignored those mysterious seals before the wave hit him and he knew no more.

When he did wake up it was to a changed world.

Oto, his Sound Village, was no more. There was nothing more to say. It was a wasteland, a burning hell that appeared to stretch on to the horizon.

From what he saw, he appeared to be in the very center of the destruction and for the life of him he could not figure out why he was alive.

"**Ahhhhh, You're awake now I see. Good it's been a while…"** a dark, rumbling voice chuckled out behind Orochimaru, startling him.

Orochimaru turned around in an instant, preparing to defend himself, no matter how hopeless a gesture it would seem to the force of nature before him. He was not prepared, however, to see the grinning, demonic form of Uzumaki Naruto complete with nine swishing tails, sitting behind a desk, his desk he recognized, and nearly a third of his village populace incapacitated or trapped in a crimson field of energy letting out what appeared to be silent screams of pain and agony.

For once in his long life, he was speechless.

Kyuubi grinned. **"Speechless eh?" ** when Orochimaru couldn't respond the Kyuubi took it upon itself to continue. **"Not that I blame you or anything. If I had fucked up as bad as you I'm fairly sure I'd be speechless as well."** The Kyuubi simply laughed at Orochimaru's confused expression as he continued to look at the container, his people, and the landscape. **"I hope you don't mind." **The Kyuubi gestured to the torture of the Oto people and the landscape. **"But I only have a short time to enjoy myself before I leave this plane."**

"…how?" Orochimaru managed to strangle out as he gripped his hands onto his head in frustration.

The Kyuubi grinned before coming around the desk to actually sit on the top of it in front of the snake-sannin, explaining along the way. **"Well, the short answer is…easily." **As Orochimaru fell to his knees in a growing frustration and a need to understand, Kyuubi merely shook his shoulders and gestured in a 'What Can You Do?' manner.** "What can I say? You were impatient? You didn't check to see what those seals were that you didn't understand?"** Kyuubi's grin turned into an angry sneer before he kicked the kneeling sannin in the face and across a thirty foot distance. **"BECAUSE YOU UNDERESTIMATED ME!" **The incensed fox demon roared as waves of power flew off him punishing the sannin. **"BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT YOURSELF WORTHY OF THE POWER ONLY I KNOW!"**

The now crumpled sannin coughed up blood from the heavy blow.

"**You were a fool to think yourself my equal, human."** The Kyuubi accented the fact by materializing near the downed nin and kicking him back to his previous position near the desk.

The Kyuubi phased out of view only to reappear seated looking down on the broken form of Orochimaru with a small smirk that looked totally foreign on Naruto's features.

"**However I must commend you on your efforts in the pursuit of greatness."** The demon noted with a now bemused look on his face. **"It has literally been ages since another has come so close to discovering the secrets of the Biju. I, the oldest of our kind, should know."** The Kyuubi leaned back, enjoying the sensation of the leather recliner he had taken from the office before leveling it along with the rest of this pitiful village.

"**You've actually been asleep for a day or so, which gave me plenty of time to read through your notes while I …entertained myself. I have to say I've rather enjoyed my last bout out in this world with the destruction, the carnage, and… Tayuya… I believe her name was… was most extraordinary while I slaked my lust with her body, despite its imperfections from combat. She called for you, you know?"** the Kyuubi was curious as to how he would react to the news seeing as how the female seemed to have some connection with him. He was pleased when the mortal before him did not even seem stunned in the slightest. Such potential lost because of his impatience. **"Yes, well…I'm sure you have no misconceptions about the fact that you're going to die. You and I have both committed ourselves to inescapable actions. The least I can do is at least tell you what you failed to take into account."**

"T..the seals…" Orochimaru gurgled out with some effort and blood.

"**Yes, the seals…"** the Kyuubi nodded. **"Those were of my own construction and implementation."** The demon noticed the inquisitive look on the human's face. **"Ah, how was I able to do such sealing? Well, you have yourself to thank for that. I've always had a certain measure of control over the boy when he uses my power, but only for a very short, very controlled amount of time and manner. I never had the time, access, or ability to do so before, but when you started your live experimentation with dear Naruto-kun here it enabled me to do my own… series of tests as they were."**

"Your own?" Orochimaru asked as some of the bleeding lessened.

"**Yes."** The kitsune nodded. **"That was why I burned out your impurities. They were getting in the way of my own experiments."**

"But why…" Orochimaru wondered. "Why would you bestow such power on the boy unless you would gain control or could alter the seal. I would say that is what you have done but you speak as though you will soon die." Orochimaru paused in thought for a moment before something stuck out.

"Decay… your own greater essence is eroding away the mortal coils of the boy. If that is the case, why do you not try to merely unseal yourself or wait till the body is gone? Will your perpetual force not allow you to recreate a chakra construct?"

"**No."** the demon fox gave out, enjoying the even more confused expression on the mortal's face. **"I have long since accepted the fact that my life is linked totally and completely to the boy's. I have no great affection for the impudent whelp mind you…I am merely accepting the truth for what it is. While the Shinigami itself would not be able to consume my soul it can certainly anchor it to a force greater than itself. The way that you and I escape the force of the otherside is buoyancy . You create earthly anchors and slip in and out among them. It is as if you cling to driftwood in the sea so as to float. I, however, and the other Biju, have elevated ourselves to the point of power where death would normally have no sway over us. **

**The Yondaime's seal and deal struck with the Shinigami however has created such an oppressive weight that I have no hope of true escape. While I aid the boy I merely aid myself. Do you understand?"**

"Yes… but still. Why will you now die? Why have you even bothered then to augment him?" Orochimaru wondered. Perhaps if he could outlast the demon's speech this force would save him as well as bring the demon's doom.

The demon relaxed with his fingers…claws…steepled. **"Yes, why indeed. The answer, in short, is to leave a legacy. I have not fought for so long to have my presence vanish so easily from this world. So, through my container and his line my name will be remembered. I have augmented him as you say, to make him more than what he was or ever could be. The line of_ my people_ will stretch forward out into time without end. They will never know disease or weakness in blood. They will know only strength and power… My dear mortal, be very proud, for you have been instrumental in the creation of a bloodline…a bloodline without limit." **The Kyuubi ended by standing up and gesturing to himself.

Orochimaru scoffed. "Bloodline without limit? Fah, you are a fool Kyuubi. I see no difference in that body now than from when I tested it other than your influence."

Rather than getting angry the Kyuubi in fact looked more amused than before. **"That is quite true my dear mortal."** The demon then laughed, a dark laugh that made the snake's from tremble. **"It is true that my great gift has not yet activated, but that is because the other half of the key to unlocking it has been asleep."**

Orochimaru sneered as he finally regained his footing. "And what makes you think I will help you with unlocking this gift of yours when I, in the end, turn out no better?"

Orochimaru quickly paled as a ghostly form, a form he knew well from his last encounter with the Sandaime, appeared beside the demon fox.

"**Because you now have no say in the matter, mortal."** Kyuubi laughed uproariously. **"I said you helped me create my great achievement, but did you really think it was just the experimenting that opened the door? Oh no, when you actually attempted to touch my essence and steal my power you opened yourself to me as well Orochimaru!"** The Kyuubi floated up in a blazing ball of chakra above the ruined city. **"You gave me the time and opportunity to do as I pleased, like time to set the triggering effects, and even provided me with the other SOUL I needed to tempt the honorable Shinigami into another contract."**

Orochimaru screamed in pain as he felt the hand and knife of the death god enter into his body and lift him high into the air along with the mass of tortured bodies the Kyuubi was levitating.

"**Behold Orochimaru…"** the Kyuubi first gestured to the wailing snake-sannin and then to the ruined city below. **"I will leave you a legacy as well ,as we prepare to embark upon our journey to the pits of hell and beyond!"** With that said, the demon gathered all nine of its tail points together and unleashed a directed blast of energy downward that exploded in a titanic mushroom cloud. Quickly, the Kitsune waved its tails and created hurricane force winds that blew the smoke away to reveal a massive crater encompassing the former village. Bringing three of its spectral tails together, it shot out a wide beam of energy that cut deep into the earth as it carved a message and nine lines out into the land.

When it was done, the Kyuubi then gestured to the floating populace and divided them into nine sections. With a twitch of each tail, the people were crushed in a coffin of energy served to fill each scar with crimson paint.

Pleased, the Kyuubi turned back to the ashen faced snake-sannin. **"Rejoice, Orochimaru for your land of Sound shall forever be remembered as the sight where the great Kyuubi no Kitsune unleashed its full power, where those who bear his gift were born, and where he did finally pass into the beyond!"**

The Kyuubi laughed once last great laugh and then turned specifically to acknowledge the Shinigami. **"So it seems I have finally fallen within your power death god. I have expended the bulk of my power here and now so that even were I free of your seal and influence I would still fall into your realm. The deal has been made, the human's soul is yours as will mine soon be, you of course will remove my legacy to a safe location as we discussed." **The Death God nodded his head. **"Then let us go. I grow weary of the weakness I now feel in this form."**

If one had managed to stay alive past the culling of the Demon Fox and the measure of his wrath and actually stood upon the now cursed ground of Sound as the Demon Fox's soul was taken, they would have only seen a bright flash of light in the sky before all was dark.

N – A – R – U – T – O - N – A – R – U – T – O - N – A – R – U – T – O - N – A – R – U – T – O –

**A/N: ** Well people there you go. That's what happened. Without having to worry about any last restrictions and staying alive we were able to see what a completely unchained beast could do. Now that the trigger has been released though, what will happen to Naruto? Where or When has he disappeared to under the protection of the death god himself? How will Konoha react?

Find out in the next thrilling chapter of Betrayal: 'The Chapter that will arrive in a year!'

(Just kidding). Jesus, I have over a hundred and fifty reviews for this beast. All I can say is…

YOU GUYS ARE SEXY BITCHES YEAH! YOU RoXX!

I can't say how great it is to get this much of a response and hopefully I'll start writing more. B/W this and UZU THE WORLD TRAVELLER my fanfic muse is sated.


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